Most personal transportation vehicles on which the user is in a standing position while riding fall into one of three categories. The first is the scooter, which typically has a front wheel and one or more rear wheels, the front wheel being steerable by a handlebar. A second is the skateboard, which typically has sets of front and rear wheels rotatable on axes that are either fixed to a platform on which the rider stands, or arranged on steering trucks that can change direction. In either case, the rider steers the skateboard by shifting his weight. A third category, of which the SEGWAY personal mobility device is the most notable example, is a vehicle having two wheels on a common axis, and is also steered by a shift in the rider's weight. Scooters and skateboards can be motorized or propelled by the rider. Most vehicles in the third category are motor-propelled.
Examples of personal vehicles are described in the following United States patents and United States Patent Publication:
3,362,723Bretholz5,310,202Goodspeed6,079,724Lin6,227,555Wang et al.6,311,994Wang et al.6,341,790Chen6,857,648Mehmet2008/0088109Chiu et al.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,362,723, 6,079,724, 6,311,994, 6,857,648, and patent publication 2008/0088109 describe scooters having foot-actuated pedal mechanisms for propulsion. Of these, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,362,723, 6,079,724, 6,857,648, and patent publication 2008/0088109, all utilize conventional handlebar steering mechanisms for tilting the axis of rotation of a front steering wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,202 describes a skateboard having a rider-actuable propulsion pedal and steering trucks that facilitate steering by a shift in weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,555 describes a scooter having a pair of rear wheels that are steerable in response to a shift in the rider's weight. U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,790 describes a scooter having a pair of front wheels that are steerable in response to a shift in the rider's weight.
In riding any of the scooters that have handlebar steering, the rider holds onto the handlebar with both hands. These scooters are relatively easy for an inexperienced rider to use, but the rider must therefore face forward in order to steer comfortably. Skateboards, on the other hand, and scooters that require a shift of weight for steering, are comparatively difficult for an inexperienced rider to master, and a rider can easily incur injuries from falls while attempting to learn how to use these devices.
An object of this invention is to provide a personal vehicle that allows a rider to face to the side while riding, and thereby experience the sensation of riding a skateboard, while at the same time allowing an inexperienced rider to steer easily and more safely.